


Taking the Burden

by Piperandleoxx4



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Deaf Character, Marriage, Miscarriage, Mpreg, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sam Winchester, Sam!pregnant, Season/Series 15, graphic birth, labor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:13:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29091828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piperandleoxx4/pseuds/Piperandleoxx4
Summary: After Sam and Dean kill God, they stop hunting, Sam gets married to Eileen and they all live together. Eileen and Sam have trouble conceiving a baby, but Sam has an unorthodox idea.
Relationships: Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Taking the Burden

After killing God, himself, Dean and Sam quit hunting. They moved out of the bunker and found a modest home in the suburbs. They both obtained modest jobs. Dean started his own garage and Sam found solace in teaching law at the local community college.

Sam continued to date Eileen until he asked her to marry him. She enthusiastically said, yes and moved in with the boys right away. She also worked at the community college with Sam, but she taught sign language. They loved working together. Sam’s favorite part was having long lunches together, where they continued to discuss their future.

All Eileen have ever wanted was a baby. Since She was a hunter most of her life, she didn’t have the opportunity, but that side of life was over. And she was ready to start a family. Sam on the other hand, wasn’t so sure. He knew Dean had wanted kids, but he was a good caretaker. Hell, he took care of Sam for all of his life. Sam didn’t think he had that same quality. The idea of being a father terrified Sam, but he was willing to get past his fears for Eileen.

After being married for 2 years, they began trying. At first there was no strategy to it. Whenever they were in the mood, they would have sex and wait to see if Eileen would miss a period. They tried this strategy for a few months and nothing happened. Then Eileen began tracking her ovulation cycle and scheduled days to have sex. Once again, this was unsuccessful. Eileen then changed her diet in hope that this would help them conceive. No luck. They did have one chance where she did conceive, but it was short lived when they lost the baby after 10 weeks. Finally, they came to a conclusion that something could be wrong, so they booked an appointment to speak with a fertility specialist. The doctor looked at Sam’s sperm and revealed that he had very active swimmers, which meant Eileen must have been the problem. Their worst fears were answered when their doctor told them that Eileen’s womb was “inhabitable”. A baby wouldn’t be able to survive a full 9 months inside of her. Instantly, Eileen lost hope. Sam tried everything in his power to console her, but she was far too upset.

On the ride home from the doctors, Eileen had nothing to say. She sat in the passenger’s seat trying not to go back into hysterics. When they got home, she fled to her bedroom and continued to sob.

In the kitchen Dean was baking cookies. He had a bad feeling about their appointment and thought they might want some comfort food when they returned.

With a heavy thud Sam sat at the kitchen table. Dean was quick to pour his brother a glass of whiskey. “You want to talk about it?”

Sam stared at the glass of whiskey, mulling over if he should down it or try and savor it. He threw it back. “Not really.” Sam poured himself another glass, this time with more whiskey. He promised himself he was going to sip on this one. “This is one of the worst days of my life. The look on Eileen’s face…I’ve never seen her so distraught. I just—I wish I could do something.”

“What exactly did the doctor say?”

Sam sighed. “Nothing good. Her womb is “inhabitable” and has a less than 10% chance of having a baby.”

Dean shook his head. “Jesus, I’m so sorry.”

“They said we could try the hormone shots again to see if that makes a difference—”

“But she hated those shots,” Dean said.

“Right. Plus, it’s way too expensive. We couldn’t afford doing that again.” Sam found himself starring at his whiskey again. His mind was racing 100 miles an hour, until he got an idea. He downed his whiskey and grabbed his keys.

“Woah, where are you going?” Dean asked his brother as he tried stopping him from fleeing out the door. Sam was too fast for his brother.

He opened the front door and said, “I’ll be right back. I just need some air,” Sam mumbled as he pushed himself out the door. Dean weighed if he should run after him. With a hysterical Eileen in the house, he decided that wouldn’t be a good idea. He texted Sam a few times, but he never answered.

Eventually, Eileen left her bedroom to get a glass of water. Her eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles under her eyes. She signed to Dean after looking around the kitchen. “Where is Sam?”

Dean didn’t want to alar her so he signed back, “He went out for a little.”

“Where did he go?” she signed back.

“I don’t know,” Dean said. He went to sign but Eileen read his lips. He was thankful that she was good at reading lips. It’s taken Dean over 2 years to learn sign language and he’s still not great at it, but he has been improving. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

Night had fallen and Sam had not returned. Even Eileen has tried texting him. “What exactly did he say when he left?” she signed.

“Just that he needed to get some air and that he’ll be right back,” he recounted.

“That was 4 hours ago,” she mumbled.

Eventually, Sam walked through the front door and was greeted by a scowling Dean and Eileen. “H-Hey guys,” Sam said, with a slight tremble in his voice.

“Where were you?” she signed.

Sam thought for a second about how he wanted to answer. He finally signed, “I met up with an old friend.”  
  


She raised her eyebrow in confusion. “What friend?”

“You might want to sit down.”

“Why? Who did you meet?”

“Just an old friend that’s going to help us have a baby,” he told her.

Eileen’s eyes got wide. “What?” she said incredulously.

Suddenly, Crowley appeared with his smug grin. “Well, you’re not selling it too well, now are you?”

“Crowley??” Dean angrily, gritted.

Crowley looked shocked. “What’s wrong with my help? It’s not like you haven’t asked for it before,” he smirked.

Eileen sent daggers through, Sam. “How could a demon help us?”

“First of all, I’m not just any old demon,” Crowley signed.

Dean was taken aback from this. “Wait a minute. You know sign language?”

Annoyed, Crowley turned to Dean. “Of, course I do. I don’t live under a rock. And you boys and I have history. Once, Sam told me what was going on,” He turned back to Eileen, “—condolences by the way—,” he signed.

“You made a deal?” Dean put together.

“Yes, but there’s no 10-year contract. Crowley made it possible for us to finally have a baby,” Sam explained.

“How?” Eileen asked.

“Crowley would put a baby in me…,” Sam told them.

Eileen and Dean stared at Sam, very confused. “What?” she asked, genuinely unsure of what Sam was trying to say.

“Yeah, I’m pregnant,” Sam said, with a slight smile. Immediately, Eileen passed out.

“I think that went well,” Crowley added.

Sam and Dean helped move Eileen to her bedroom. After closing the bedroom door Dean hit Sam on the shoulder. “What the hell did you do?” Dean quietly exclaimed. Sam pulled Dean away from the bedroom and into the living room where Crowley made himself comfortable on their couch. “How could you make a deal with Crowley? Have you not learned anything throughout the years?”

“Of course, I have, Dean. But what other choice do I have? Eileen can’t have kids; adoption is not an option with our past and we’re too broke for a surrogate. This was the only answer I could come up with,” Sam told his brother.

Dean ran his fingers through his hair as he frantically thought. “So-so now you’re pregnant? How does that even work?”

Crowley nonchalantly raised his finger. “I can answer that,’ he began. “I’ve created a temporary womb inside your brother so that he’ll be able to carry the baby to term.”

“Woah-woah-if you could do that to Sam, then why couldn’t you have done that to Eileen?”

Dean asked.

“Because, Eileen can’t have a baby. Even if I were to put a baby inside of her, the chance of it surviving is next to none. Look, 10-year deals can be a lot more complicated then you hunters make it out to be. It’s easy to change some numbers around to let someone win big in the stock market, but when you’re talking about creating a life…that’s a whole other story,” Crowley revealed.

Dean took a long breath. “Is this dangerous?” he asked them.

“Not any more dangerous than if it were a healthy pregnant woman,” Crowley told him.

“Right…,” Dean breathed.

Sam put his hand on Dean’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, Dean.”

Dean laughed to himself. “Yeah, tell Eileen that.”

Sam was terrified to hear what his wife thought. It’s obvious that she’s pissed but he’s not sure how pissed.

After about 2 hours, Eileen woke up. Sam stayed in the room. As she slowly stirred, Sam was right by her side with a glass of water. “Hey, move slowly.” Sam signed to her after handing her a glass of water.

She took a few sips before saying, “Why did you do this behind my back? Why didn’t you talk to me before making such a big decision?” she asked him very hurt.

“I should have. I know that and I’m so sorry. But I did this for us. This is what we’ve wanted.”

“Not like this, Sam. To have a demon involved…”

“He’s not involved, I promise.”

“I just…I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel right now. I’m glad that we get to have a baby, but I’m also angry with you too,” she signed.

“You have every right to be mad at me. I 100% should have been more transparent with you. I’ll never make that mistake again. To be honest, I was trying to get you to carry the baby, but that didn’t work out the way I planned,” he told her. “I love you; Eileen and I hope you know that my heart was in the right place.”

Eileen closed her eyes and then said, “I know.” She gently grabbed Sam’s face and kissed him hard. She began to cry. “It’s just been a really hard day,” she signed.

Sam nodded. “I know.” He got in bed with her, and stroked her hair, until she fell back asleep. That day was more of a blur for Eileen. She was in and out of consciousness the whole day. She didn’t eat, but looked forward to the morning.

When she got up, Sam was no longer in bed with her. Then she smelled bacon. ‘Dean must be cooking,’ she thought. She went down stairs to see Dean at the stove taking off the last of the bacon and Sam reading the morning paper.

“Morning,” Sam signed to her and then handed her a cup of coffee.

She took the cup of coffee. It was made the way she liked it, 2 sugars and light cream. “Why didn’t you wake me? It’s late,” she signed.

“I called the school and got us a both substitutes. Thought we could use another mental health day.”

“Good idea,” she said. She took a sip of her coffee and was beginning to feel more like herself.

Sam grabbed a plate and piled some bacon and eggs on it. “Here, sit. Have some breakfast. I’m sure you must be hungry.” He wasn’t wrong. She grabbed the plate plus 2 pieces of buttered toast.

“All right guys, I gotta head to work,” Dean announced. He put his coffee in a to go mug. “I’ll be home later tonight.”

“Are you still making your bacon cheeseburgers tonight?” Eileen asked.

“Duh,” he signed. “Why do you think I just cooked the whole slab?” he laughed. “Don’t eat all of it,” he warned them, before heading off to work.

She took a bite out of her toast. “So, what are your plans today?” she asked, Sam.

“I was hoping that you and I could just lay low and hang out. Maybe discuss some things,” he signed.

“What things?” she replied, suspiciously.

“Just go over some baby things. Like go over who will be out doctor.”

“We’re not asking, Crowley,” she said, putting her foot down.

“I agree. But we’re going to need to have someone who knows about the supernatural who has some sort of medical background.”

“Right, that we trust. Any ideas?”

Sam did have one idea, but he wasn’t sure how Dean was going to feel about it. He decided to wait to reveal his thoughts until Dean had a bacon cheeseburger in his mouth. He was less likely to throw a fit if he had good food within arm’s reach.

Sam and Eileen spent the remainder of the day jotting any information they could think of down in regards to the next 9 months. They wrote down the items they will need. Began to budget for a nursery. They would reutilize Sam’s office as the nursery. All of this planning got Eileen excited about the new baby. For a moment she wasn’t disappointed at the fact that she couldn’t bear children, because she was having a baby. Albeit, not in the traditional way, her dream was coming true.

Sam was riding the high. He hadn’t felt any of the pregnancy symptoms he’s read about but, Crowley assured him that they will begin at least 4 weeks into his pregnancy. So, for now he was enjoying the feeling of carrying his child inside of him.

Once, Dean came home he begun working on dinner right away. He was starving and all he could see all day was that bacon cheeseburger. At the dinner table he was half way through his burger when Sam said, “I think we should ask Garth to be my doctor.”

Dean almost choked on his burger and had to guzzle his beer to get the piece of meat dislodged from his throat. “Garth? Dentist, werewolf Garth?”

“Yeah, why not?” Sam shrugged.

“No.” Dean didn’t hate Garth but he did have strong feelings about him. He thought he was incredibly immature and ridiculously clumsy. All of the hunters he knew that knew of Garth wondered how the kid was still standing. Not to mention that he became a werewolf with a dentistry side business. It sounded like the beginning of a bad joke.

“He knows the business, he’s a good friend—”

“And he’s also a dentist, not a doctor.”

“Dentists are doctors,” Eileen pointed out.

Dean rolled his eyes. “Whatever. The answer is no.”

“Well too bad because I already asked him and he’s coming by tomorrow,” Sam told him.

Dean could feel his eye twitching. “Then why did you even ask?”

“I didn’t, Dean. I’m telling you.”

Dean chugged the rest of his beer and ate his burger in peace.

After work Sam and Eileen raced home to meet with Garth. They were running a little late and Garth was waiting for them at their front door. “I’m so sorry, class ran late,” Sam apologized. He unlocked the front door to let them in.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Sam. I got here no more than 5 minutes ago,” Garth said with a massive grin. He was just happy to see his friend after so many years. Eileen offered to take his jacket and Gath obliged. He then got set up in their living room. “So, where’s Dean-o? I haven’t seen him in over 5 years. How’s he doing?”

Sam chuckled at their old friend. Garth was always so friendly and full of optimism. The Boys envied that. “He’s good. He’ll be home in a few hours.”

“You boys still hunting?”

“No, once we killed God and Eileen and I got married…we just didn’t see the point anymore.”

Garth nodded. “Oh, I get it. My wife and I stopped once she got pregnant with our first. It was hard at first, but you soon realize that there are other hunters that can do the job.”

“I 100% agree.”

“I gotta be honest. When you told me on the phone that you were pregnant, I thought it might have been a hunt gone wrong,” He shook his head. “but my relief when you told me you did this for your family. And God Bless you, Sam.”

Sam laughed nervously. “Thanks, Garth.”

Garth clapped and rubbed his hands together. “All right, let’s take a look at what’s going on with you.” Sam took a seat on the couch and Garth sat next to him. He grabbed his stethoscope and placed it on Sam’s middle. He listened intently.

“So? What do you hear?” Eileen asked.

“A heartbeat,” he said focused on the sound. “Two heartbeats!” he exclaimed. “Damn Sam, you’re definitely with child.”

“And it sounds healthy?” she asked.

“So far so good!”

“That’s great news!” she said to Sam.

Eileen went to the kitchen to start dinner. She couldn’t stop smiling at the good news. Her baby was happy and healthy and that was something to celebrate. Sam offered Garth a beer and a seat at their table for dinner that night. He happily agreed to both. They caught up over the past few years. So much has changed since they last saw each other.

While they were in mid conversation, Dean came home from work. “I guess they just let anyone be doctors,” Dean joked as he hugged Garth, giving him a hearty slap on the back. Sam was grateful that Dean played nice with their old friend.

They continued to catch up with Garth until the night wound down. Sam and Eileen thanked Garth for his help and retreated to bed. Dean waited until they were in bed to break out his good stuff. He opened up his liquor cabinet and picked out the Johnny Walker Blue. He laughed to himself, ‘Rufus would be so proud,’ he thought. He poured two glasses and handed one to Garth. He looked up at the gesture with the biggest smile on his face, as if he had been invited to the cool table. “Thank you! What’s the occasion?” he asked. He took a sip and winced at the burn. Garth was used to drinking light beers or fruity cocktails, so this was definitely a change of pace.

“Really? I think the occasion would be my brother having a baby. What better miracle is that?” he asked him. But Garth thought it sounded too cynical.

“Is there something wrong, Dean?”

Dean took a sip of his scotch but unlike Garth, drank it with ease. “Listen to me, if you’re going to be Sammy’s doctor then you have to promise me that there will be no issues.

Garth laughed nervously. “Dean, you know that I can’t promise that. Now, I can promise that I will do everything in my power to treat Sam accordingly--,’

“No-you’re not getting it. Eileen and Sam have been through enough when it comes to having children and they can’t take another loss. This has to go well.

Garth could see the desperation in Dean’s eyes. There was no use in arguing with a determined Dean. He’s learned that the hard way. “Of course. Everything will be fine,” he said to him. He finished his scotch and left. Dean thought it would be a good idea to have another glass of scotch. He laid back in his chair and sipped on his drink until he ultimately passed out.

xxx

Garth had set up a plan to meet with Sam every few weeks to check up on his baby. He would meet them in between or after dental appointments. It had been about 4 weeks before Sam started to suffer from morning sickness. At first it began during his morning breakfast, but the nausea would pass by mid-morning. This was until one day he was teaching a class and became overwhelmed with nausea. Mid lecture he had to run out to the bathroom. Ever since then he kept ginger candy in his desk as well as drank ginger tea every morning.

Eileen helped as best as she could. When Sam would get too exhausted, she would take over his classes. She couldn’t teach any law but she was instructed to pass out pop quizzes. Needless to say, his classes dreaded when they saw her walk in the door.

The other hurdle was Sam and Eileen working on their relationship. The news of the pregnancy was as exciting as it was upsetting. It was getting harder and harder to watch her husband bare the child that she was supposed to carry.

It was 12pm and Sam was supposed to meet Eileen at her car for lunch. He was more than 15 minutes late with no text message indicating that he would be running late. She thought maybe he was speaking to a student after class, so she went into his class and he wasn’t there. She walked down the hallway and was about to pass the men’s restroom and got the faintest of ideas. Without as much as a warning, she burst into the men’s restroom. “Sam?” she called out. She couldn’t hear but Sam responded back by dry heaving into the toilet. The stall wasn’t closed fully, so it didn’t take long for her to find him. She waited patiently for him to finish before saying anything. Sam staggered to the sink to wash out his mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me that you weren’t feeling well?”

Sam scoffed. “It’s hard to do that when my head is stuck in a toilet,” he signed to her.

Eileen blinked at him. “Fine, I’ll just go to lunch myself,” she said. Sam lightly grabbed her shoulder. She was very close to keep walking but decided to turn around.

Sam looked apologetic. “I’m sorry,” he signed. “I’m really tired. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“You’re right, you shouldn’t have,” she snapped back.

“We could still-,”

“I’ll see you at home,” she said quickly before leaving the restroom. Sam took a few breaths before losing his temper and punching the glass mirror, shattering it. His knuckles were bloody. He went straight to his car, bandaged them up and went along the rest of his day. He blocked the encounter out of his memory until he came home to his wife. She was upstairs folding laundry.

Sam got in her view, so he wouldn’t startle her. “We can’t keep doing this,” he signed. “I know that you hate me right now, and I don’t blame you.”

“I don’t hate you, Sam. I’m just--,” she sighed “you can be so mean sometimes when you’re sick and then take it out on me. If we’re going to get through this marriage then you’re going to have to communicate with me.”

“Fine, then you have to stop getting mad at me or having pregnancy symptoms. I don’t know how else I can apologize for the mistake I made” Sam said to her.

Eileen let out a breath., “I know and I’m sorry too. How are you feeling?” she asked, genuinely. She hated to see him get sick and look as tired as he was looking. None of this went unnoticed.

“Still pretty nauseous, but I think that has to do with nerves.”

“Nerves?” she signed, not sure if she read his lips incorrectly.

“Yeah, well I was pretty nervous to talk to you.”

She then saw the bandage wrapped around his hand. “Did you hurt yourself?”

He had gone and forgot about his injury all together. “Oh, it’s just a scrape, nothing to worry about,” he lied. He recognized the irony in lying to his wife after just speaking about the importance of communication. Sam never did anyone that it was he who broke the mirror. Not even his brother. A detail that he felt wasn’t necessary to speak about any further. He had more pressing things to worry about.

xxx

At 16 weeks Sam began showing. It was quite the shock since the week before there was no sign that he was pregnant. He, as Garth would call it, “Popped”. It all happened over a long weekend. Sam was in the kitchen making himself some eggs when Dean pointed out that he looked…bigger.

Sam hears his brother shuffle into the kitchen. “Morning.”

Dean grabbed some coffee and hid his grin behind his mug. “Good morning to you,” Dean said with his eyes quite large.

After dumping his eggs on his plate, he looked up to see Dean’s expression. He knew exactly what he was staring at. “Can we not?” Sam exasperated. His appointment with Garth that morning was more than eye opening when it came to his size. He didn’t need the insensitive jokes from his brother. “Yes, I know, I look pregnant, can we change the subject?”

Dean hid his laughter behind a cough. “Sure, where’s Eileen?”

“Shower. Oh, we’re having a girl. Thought I’d tell you.”

Dean stepped back astonished at the news. “That’s great news! Congrats!”

Sam couldn’t help but to smile a little. “Yeah, it’s all good.” Sam took a seat at the table. He remembered that he forgot his ketchup when Dean grabbed it from the fridge and slid it across the table.

“Then why don’t you seem that excited?”

Sam took a bite out of his scrambled eggs. “I am excited. It’s just all hitting me now.” He looked down on his bump and put a hand on it. “You know I started feeling her move around?”

“That’s great, Sammy!”

“It’s scary, is what it is.” Sam dumped some ketchup on his eggs and took an all-encompassing bite.

For the first time ever, Dean was watching Sam stress eat. “Hey, this is what you wanted right?”

Sam laughed to himself. “Yeah, but not like this. I’m going to have to give birth, Dean. Garth keeps telling me that because of my special circumstances, I’m going to have to go through with it---without drugs, but I don’t know if I can do that. I’ve watched videos of woman giving birth—I’m not sure I can do that!” Sam rambled.

“Hey, relax—you’ll be fine,” his brother told him.

With a mouthful of eggs, he scoffed and said, “Easy for you to say. You’re not going to have to push a baby out of your--,” Sam sighed. “Just forget it. What are you doing today?”

“Heading into the garage. Got a few things to do.”

“I thought you had the weekend off?”

“I’m only going in for a few hours. Try not to miss me too much,” he joked. He poured his coffee into his travel mug and headed out.

Eventually, Eileen came down from her shower, he hair still up in the towel. Sam always got a kick out of this look. “I see Dean took all of the coffee,” she said as she examined the coffee pot.

Sam went to get up to make her a fresh pot when she gently pushed him back in his seat. “Stop, I’ll make it myself,” she signed. “I was thinking we could go baby shopping, now that we know the gender.”

Sam shifted in his chair. “Uh, yeah, sounds like a good idea.” He forced a smile.

After breakfast they went to the local baby stores to purchase some clothes, books, ordered a few pieces of furniture—all in the color pink. Eileen seemed to really thrive with this. She loved to decorate and this was right up her wheel house. Based on the items they picked the theme of their daughters’ room would be pink roses. They even went to the hardware store to pick up pink and white paint. She told Sam how she wanted to begin painting right away. Sam was quite overwhelmed with the whole day. It was a lot to take in.

When they got home, Sam noticed that Dean’s car was in the driveway. He was glad because he needed a break from this whole baby talk. He was hoping Dean had some garage drama that he could sink his teeth into. But to his surprise when they dropped the bags in their daughter’s new nursery, there was a beautiful cherry wood crib next to Dean. “What do you think?” Dean asked Sam and Eileen with a massive grin across his face.

Eileen put her hands to her mouth in shock. “Dean! This is so sweet. You didn’t have to do this! This is too much,” she signed. She then wrapped her arms around him. “When did you get this?”

“I ordered t and had it sent to my work and put it together today.” Dean looked over at Sam who was incredibly pale. “Sam, you good?”

Sam turned to his brother off guard. “Hmm? What? Uh, yeah…I’m good. It’s just really hot…,” he said as he fanned his shirt. He touched his forehead and it was drenched in sweat.

“Hot?” Eileen asked him, taking note of the temperature in the room. She felt just fine.

Sam nodded. “Yeah, and I feel like I-uh-.can’t.breathe,” he began panting.

“Sammy, what’s wrong?” He sat his brother down in the rocking chair they just bought.

“Just breathe, Sam,” Eileen told him.

“I’ll get you some water,” Dean said as he ran to the kitchen.

“Honey, what’s going on?”  
  


“I think I’m having a panic attack,” he said in between pants.

“I gathered that, but why are you having one?” she signed.

“Because I’m scared,” he admitted. “All of it hit me today. All of it. I-,” he stopped because he couldn’t regulate his breathing. He bent his body over, cradling his middle.

“It’s okay, just focus on your breathing. Everything is going to be okay. Take my hand.”

Sam grabbed her hands and squeezed them. It was a technique that she learned in high school. She would get horrible panic attacks when she felt like she was having a hard time understanding anybody. It’s why she took classes on how to read peoples lips.

Sam continued breathing, trying his best to control it. Dean came in with his ice water. “Here drink this. It’ll help.”

Sam took the glass and took small sips of water before speaking. “Thanks. I feel a lot better.”

It had worried Dean to see his brother that way. His brother has fought the freaking Devil himself and not once did he see him have a panic attack. He knew that Sam had fears about the baby, but not to this extent.

That evening Sam found himself back in the nursery. He took a few cleansing breaths before entering. He didn’t bother turning on the lights. The illumination from the moon lighted the room enough for Sam to see. He couldn’t stop staring at the crib. It wasn’t scary. Having a baby didn’t have to be so. He imagined what it would be like to have a little one of his own running around. He then felt his daughter kick. His hand went straight to his bump where he felt the sharp jab. “You’re not that scary, are you?” he asked his unborn daughter.

“Sam?” He heard Eileen say at the door of the nursery. He turned around.

“Are you okay?” she signed.

“Yeah, I promise. I’m good,” he signed back.

She walked closer to him and took his hand. “It’s okay to be scared. I’m scared too.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

“That’s because I’m a good actor,” she chuckled. “But we’re in this together. I love you,” she said before caressing the back of his neck and kissing him. “We’ve got this. You’ve got this.”

“I hope so.”

xxx

At 28 weeks Sam began his maternity leave. He didn’t want to chance it. His usual doctor visits with Garth had been going well. Garth had nothing but encouraging things to say about Sam’s pregnancy. It had been pictured perfect, thus far.

Eileen’s birthday has been approaching and Sam wanted to get her something nice. In years past he would usually take her to a nice dinner. She never spoke about wanting specific gifts, so going out to a fancy dinner was good enough for her.

Sam pulled up to Dean’s garage for an impromptu visit. When he arrived, Dean was underneath a car. “Hey you got a minute?”

Dean pulled out from underneath the car. “Why are you here?” he asked as he squinted up at him.

“I wanted to get your advice,” he told him.

Dean sighed, dramatically. “Alright, step into my office.” Dean got up, wiped the grease from his hands and face. He closed his office door and sat down in his chair behind the desk. “What’s going on?”

Sam lowered himself in the chair in front of Dean’s desk. “I have no idea what to get Eileen for her birthday.”

Dean took a beat. He glared his brother. “You mean to tell me that you came all the way here to get advice on what to get her wide for her birthday?”

Slightly embarrassed, Sam adjusted himself in his stiff chair. “It’s a big birthday. This is the last birthday where it’ll just be the two of us, so I want to make this special.”

“Don’t you usually take her to dinner?”

“Yeah, but I want to do something more than that. Something that’ll mean a lot to her.”

Dean thought about it for a minute but it was difficult. Eileen kept everything close to the vest. “Jewelry?” he suggested.

“She doesn’t wear jewelry, except for her engagement ring and wedding band.”

“Yeah, but she only wears those because it means a lot to her, right? So why not get her a piece of jewelry that’ll mean a lot to her.”

That gave Sam a good idea. He left the garage and went straight to the jewelers to get the gift. After the jewelers he went to the store to buy himself a new suit for dinner since none of his suits fit him anymore.

At the end of the week, Sam and Eileen went to dinner. Sam choose a nicer place than usual, including white gloved service, a new waiter with each course. It was a top-notch experience. Eileen was more than impressed. Sam ordered them both her favorite desert, chocolate cake, but next to her desert was a black box.

“What’s this?” she asked him.

“Open it,” he said with a coy smile.

“You’ve already done so much; you didn’t have to get me anything else.”

“I know, but open it,” he laughed. He couldn’t wait to see her reaction. She opened the black box and instantly began crying. She pulled the silver bracelet out of the casing. On the bracelet was the name of their daughter engraved into the silver. The name that they discussed for years, Victoria. Through all of the miscarriages and failed attempts to get pregnant, there was one thing that Sam and Eileen were sure of and that was the name. If it was a boy it would be Matthew.

Eileen wiped her tears. “Sam…thank you! This is perfect,” she said, tearfully. “This has been the best birthday.”

Sam touched her hand. “I’m glad. You deserve it.

xxx

Sam was in the nursery putting away baby clothes that Jody sent them. They were boy clothes, but clothes were clothes. They certainly weren’t picky. Sam was always shocked at how expensive baby items were since babies grow so fast.

He was at 39 weeks and was due next week. Garth explained to him that it was dangerous to induce him, so he had to hope that the baby wasn’t too overdue. He wasn’t sure that he could take another 2 or 3 weeks of this. He was so used to being physically fit, having a six pack and being at his healthiest. Now he got winded walking 2 feet. Speaking of feet, he hasn’t seen his feet for months. He spent most of his time on the couch or sitting down to prevent his ankles from swelling any further.

After putting away the clothes he took a break and sat down in the rocking chair. He put his hand on his bump and rubbed it absentmindedly. He closed his eyes as he caught his breath. Eileen found him and smiled at the sight. “Comfortable?” she said.

Sam opened his eyes to see his wife smiling at him at the door. “Not even close,” he groaned.

“Dinner’s ready. Dean made bacon cheeseburgers.”

Dean had been on this kick in trying to create the perfect bacon cheeseburger and testing out different cuts of meat and thickness of bacon. It was delicious but wasn’t helping Sam’s waistline. Sam groaned. “Would it be so difficult for Dean to make a damn salad?” he whined as he looked down at his stomach.

“Oh, stop it. You look amazing,” she signed. She walked over to him and gave his stomach a loving pat.

“I don’t know about that.”

“After the baby is born your body with snap back.”

“You think?” he asked with hope.

“Yeah…and even if it doesn’t, I like you with a little meat on your bones,” she said with a seductive smile. Sam was slightly shocked to hear that. It gave him a little more confidence about his body. Eileen helped him out of the rocking chair and to the dinner table.

Dean was just putting the final touches to the burger. “Sammy, cheese or no cheese?” he asked him.

“Out of curiosity, do you have anything green to go with those burgers?”

“Yes, I’ve got lettuce to put on the burger,” he said oblivious to what Sam was trying to hint at.

“That’s not what I me--,” he mumbled. “—no cheese, please.”

“No cheese, got it! Eileen, cheese?” he signed to her.

“Yes, with extra bacon,” she signed.

Dean’s face lit up. “My kinda girl!” he said, enthusiastically as he put 4 pieces of bacon on her burger. After he put everyone’s burgers together, he plopped down at the table to devour his food.

“So, are we all set with the baby stuff?” Dean asked.

“If you’re asking if we are ready then the answer is yes. We are as ready as we’re going to be,” Sam told him.

Strangely, after he said that he got very anxious, as if he was missing something. During dinner he had to convince himself that everything was fine and that they were prepared for the baby.

“And where will you be having the baby?” Dean asked.

“Garth said it would be best to have it here.”

Sam’s head snapped at Eileen. “Here? I thought he said his place.”

“Right, I forgot to tell you. He called the other day and said it should be here. That way he doesn’t have to transfer you and the baby afterwards,” she explained.

“Okay, but we’re not prepared to have a baby at home,” he panicked.

“I’m sure it’s fine, Sam. But if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll call Garth tomorrow and ask him if we need to get anything.”

Due to the spike in anxiety, he could feel his baby moving around like crazy inside of him. He took a breath to try and calm himself. Eileen grabbed his hand and rubbed her thumb across his hand. “It’s going to be okay, Sam. We’re ready,” she encouraged him.

xxx

Sam had his final appointment with Garth before his due date. At this point it was a waiting game. Eileen took some time off I case her husband went into labor. Dean had done the same thing. He didn’t want Eileen to be alone with him in case something went wrong. With everybody home at the same time, Sam was getting pretty annoyed with his family. Any move that he made or groan, they were by his side, with Garth on speed dial. If someone asked him how he was feeling again he was going to lose his mind.

They were sitting on the couch watching a movie. Sam struggled to get up from the couch so, Dean was instantly by his side helping him. “You okay? What’s wrong?” Dean asked him, scanning his body for any distressing clues.

Sam sighed. “Nothing. I’ve got to pee,” Sam said, annoyed.

“You sure?”

“Oh my God, Dean, yes! I’m not in labor. I would love to be in labor because at least then I could get this kid out of me, but I just have to pee. So please leave me alone!” He directed this to both of them and then stormed off into the bathroom.

Dean and Eileen exchanged looks. Dean let out a low whistle.

“I think he’s annoyed with us,” Eileen signed.

“You think?” he said, sarcastically.

After Sam’s outburst, Dean and Eileen gave Sam space. He ultimately did apologize to Eileen for the way everything came out. She completely understood his frustrations and promised to let up.

His due date had passed by a few days. One morning he woke with a splitting headache. Eileen allowed him to sleep since she heard him tossing and turning all night. That morning Dean was in the kitchen drinking coffee and reading the paper, while Eileen ate her oatmeal and designed her lesson plans for the substitute. They both looked up when they saw Sam enter the kitchen.

“Morning. Can I make you breakfast?” Dean asked him.

Sam simply shook his head as he grabbed the Tylenol bottle that rested on the counter. He shook 2 pills from the bottle and swallowed them without water, without so much of a wince.

“You still have that headache?” she signed to him.

Sam nodded. “Yes, and I feel like it’s getting worse,” he signed back to her.

“Maybe we should call, Garth?” she suggested.

“What for?” Dean asked. “It’s just a headache,” Dean signed.

Eileen got up to retrieve the pregnancy book that she had been reading. Sam told her that the book would be useless since this wasn’t a traditional pregnancy. Boy was she glad that she ignored him. After reading the index, she carefully thumbed to the correct page and showed them a passage where it talks about migraines/headaches being the first sign in active labor for some women. “And Sam you never get headaches,” she pointed out.

Sam chewed on it for a moment before deciding to call Garth. He thought that he’s rather be on the safe side. Dean was the one to call Garth and describe all that was going on. Garth agreed that this could be the start of it all. He told Dean that he would come over within the hour to check on Sam.

As they waited for Garth, Sam took a nap. His headache was starting to subside and it was getting harder for him to keep his eyes open. He felt like he had been asleep for 15 minutes before Garth knocked rather loudly on their front door. Dean quickly answered it in hope it wouldn’t wake his brother, but he was too late. Sam sat up to watch Garth walk in the door.

“Morning, Dean. Is Sam awake?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m awake,” he called out from the couch.

“Good. We should probably head to your bed so I’m able to check you properly.”

Sam nodded as he pried himself off of the couch. When he got to his room, Garth instructed him to take off his pants. He put a blanket over his legs for privacy while Garth did a thorough check. Dean and Eileen remained to the side of the bed, above the waist, careful not to look past the blanket.

Garth looked up from the blanket and said, “Well, it looks like your wife was right. You’re in labor!” he said with a smile. “Soon you will start to feel the contractions. How are you feeling now?” he asked him.

“I’m ready to get this over with. But I feel okay. Just really tired—didn’t get much sleep last night,” he told him as he rubbed his eyes. Suddenly, Sam groaned. “I do have a slight ache in my back. I guess a cramp.”

“That’s a contraction, Sam,” Garth told him. “How long have been feeling this?”

“Couple hours, I guess. Thought it was maybe the way I slept.”

“Afraid not.”

Eileen spoke up. “Shouldn’t we be timing these?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Garth said.

Dean got out his phone and tracked each contraction from that moment on. Every time Sam leaned over and began groaning in pain, he started the clock. The contractions were gradual. Eileen may not be able to hear her husband’s screams, but she could feel them. The contractions didn’t get unbearable until the 5-hour mark. Sam could feel the pain, not only in his back, but also in his front. There was no longer a comfortable position that he could get in. and the contractions were running into each other. It was like running a marathon that he didn’t prepare for. Garth would check him every so often and although he was making progress, it was slight.

Garth was checking him once again and to his disappointment Garth said, “We’re not there yet, Sam.”

“The hell we are!” Sam shouted. “She’s coming, Garth! Now you can either help and catch her or get out!!”

Dean looked to Garth. “How far is dilated?”

“4 centimeters. He needs to get to 10 before he can start pushing.”

“For Christ’s sake!” Sam yells over Garth.

“Now you’re already passed your mucus plus and your water has broken. You’re going in the right direction but labor takes time,” he explained to him.

Sam was barely listening. All he could focus on was the immense amount of pain he was in.

“Is there nothing we can give him?” Eileen asked Garth.

“Afraid not. But I suggest taking a walk. That can help elevate the pressure,” he said.

Eileen looked at Sam to get a pulse check on the idea of a walk. He did not look too enthused. “Come on. It can’t hurt,” she signed to him.

Sam extended his arms. “Fine… help me up,” he asked her and Garth. They both grabbed on arm and pulled him up. He slowly rose from the bed with one hand on his back. Eileen put her hand around his arm to steady him. They walked around the house a few times. Sam felt like an idiot at first until he realized that it was helping. He would stop every so often to allow a contraction course through his body. He walked for what felt like hours. His legs felt like Jell-O. He was done walking. Eileen helped him lower into the comfy couch.

Dean entered the living room and sat across from Sam and Eileen. “Why don’t you get some sleep, Eileen? I can take over until something exciting happens,” he signed.

“What? Me in labor isn’t exciting enough for you?” Sam joked. He glanced outside and it was pitch black. He then saw the time on the TV and it was 11pm. “How long have I been in labor for?”

“About 12 hours, give or take.”

“Jesus…Eileen, honey please get some sleep. I’m sure I’ll still be in labor when you wake up,” he laughed.

She yawned. “Are you sure?”

He gave her a peck on the lips. “I’m sure. Get some sleep.”

“Okay.” She got up from couch and looked at Dean. “Wake me up in like 2 hours.”

Dean nodded, but the second she turned around he shook his head. Once she was out of ear shot, he said, “I’ll wake her either when you start pushing or she gets a full 8 hours.”

Sam laughed. “Smart.” He then took in a sharp breath. He put a hand on his middle and scrunched his face. He groaned, “Fuck…”

“Did I speak too soon? Do you want me to grab, Eileen?”

Sam shook his head. “No. No, I’ll be okay.”

Dean looked at his brother uncomfortably as he breathed through the contraction. “Do you need me to uh…hold your hand or something?”

Sam glared at his brother. “Shut up,” he said as continued to groan through the contraction. “Where’s Garth?”

“Asleep in my bedroom. I saw him nodding off earlier. Do you need me to call him?”

“Not yet. I doubt I’ve dilated much further. I know I’m not at 10 centimeters,” he said frustrated. He threw his head back.

“They do say the first baby is usually the longest labor.”

Sam ran his fingers through his hair. “That’s really not helping, Dean. I just want this whole thing to be over. I’m in the worst pain that I’ve ever been in. I’m incredibly uncomfortable. I feel like these past 9 months have literally been a nightmare…I just need this baby out to know it was all worth it.”

Dean rubbed his scruff as he thought about what to say. He looked into his brethren’s eyes and saw what little confidence he had left in himself. He looked defeated. “Look, I’m not going to lie, when you came home with Crowley to tell Eileen what you did, I thought you were a dumbass. But you did it for the right reasons. You tried to fix something that was unfixable and I don’t blame you for that. Neither does Eileen.”

“She did…,” Sam pointed out.

“Yes, but not anymore. I’ve seen what you’ve gone through these past 9 months and riddle me impressed. Just like you got through this whole pregnancy, you’re going to get through this. It will be worth it. We’re both really proud of you, Sam,” Dean said with a slight smile. He rubbed Sam’s leg and asked, “You wanna keep walking before your next contraction hits?”

Sam shook his head. “No, I think I’m going to rest here for a while…well as long as I can.”

“Do you want me to wake you too?” he chuckled.

“I think I’m going to be the one to wake you,” he joked. He sprawled his body across the couch and shockingly fell asleep. He wasn’t sure how since he was in such immense pain minutes before, but the human body can only take so much before exhaustion takes over.

Dean made himself a cup of coffee to help him stay awake. He thought it would be smart to sit in the living room and watch over his brother while he slept. Sam was asleep for about ½ hour before he woke up, screaming in pain. Dean leapt up and kneed down next to his brother. “Sammy? Sammy! What’s wrong?”

Sam lifted his back and bent his body forward. “Call Garth! She’s coming!” he cried with a strained voice.

There was no need to grab him because Garth was already racing to the living room with Eileen trailing behind him. He must have woken her when he heard Sam’s screams.

Garth got in-between Sam’s legs. His eyes widened. “Well I’ll be damned, Sam. I guess all that walking helped. The head is crowning.”

Sam took that as his cue to start pushing. As he did so Eileen replaced Dean and kneeled next to him. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it with every push.

“That’s it, Sam! Push! You’re doing great!” Garth praised him. He was laser focused on Sam’s private area, now equipped with a warm blanket and gloved. Sam let out a low guttural sound as he pushed the shoulders out. His hair was soaked in sweat.

“Keep going Sam. You’re almost done!” Eileen encouraged.

He didn’t respond, but instead continued to push. His face was getting redder with each push.

Dean was brave enough to assist Garth, which meant he also got the opportunity to see his niece being born. “Holy Shit, Sam you’re doing it! Your baby girl is almost here.”

Sam opened his eyes. “Yeah?” he panted.

“Yeah, dude,” Dean said breathlessly.

Sam continued pushing until he finally heard his baby girl’s cry as she entered the world. Instantly, Sam and Eileen began to cry. After Garth cut the cord, he placed the baby on Sam’s chest. “I love you,” he said tearfully to Eileen.

“I love you, too,” she responded. She gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Thank you…,” she said quietly. “Thank you for doing this.” Finally, her daughter was here and she couldn’t be more grateful.

xxx

A few hours had passed since Sam gave birth. Garth decided to go home, shower and change his clothes. When he returned, he checked on the baby and Sam. Victoria was very healthy and her vitals were great. Sam was also doing well. He complained about some soreness her was experiencing in his pelvic region. Garth assured him that it would go away after some time. He also explained to him that he should see signs of his milk coming in he hadn’t already. Sam did notice that the weeks leading to his labor that his chest was getting sensitive and sore, but he thought that it had something to do with being pregnant. He was surprised that to learn that he would be breast feeding his daughter. Eileen had read up on breast feeding just in case, so she felt somewhat prepared.

Garth began backing up his supplies. “Did you guys have any other questions?” He asked Sam and Eileen.

“Actually Garth,” Sam began. Eileen grabbed a pink gift bag that was hidden under their bed and handed it to him. “we wanted to get you a little something to say, thank you.”

Garth beamed. “Oh, you guys. You didn’t have to get me anything.” He reached into the bag and pulled out a wooden name plate that read, ‘Garth Fitzgerald IV, DDS’. He gasped. “Oh, this is wonderful!”

“Dean said that when he got his teeth fixed that you didn’t have one so we thought we’d get you one,” Sam said.

“Well, that was just so thoughtful of you guys.” Garth gave Eileen and Sam a big bear hug to say, thank you. He saw Dean waiting at the bedroom door on his way out and have him a big hug too. Dean obliged.

“Alright. Alright,” he eventually shrugged Garth off of him.

“I know you Winchesters love your hugs.”

Dean chucked. “Yeah. Hey, thanks a lot for what you did for Sammy.”

“Don’t mention it, Dean,” he said with a smile and left their home.

xxx

A few weeks passed, Sam and Eileen were getting into a routine with their daughter. They discussed possibly moving out to not only have their own space, but to not cramp Dean’s style. They could only imagine the kind of impression it would have on a girl over when there is newborn in the house. Dean had overheard their conversations and explained to them to stay. It has always been Sam and Dean together and Dean has always welcomed the idea of being surrounded by family. He loved living in a house where he had his niece down the hall with his brother and sister and in law. It made him feel whole. So, they stayed and never brought it up again.

It was late in the evening and Victoria was wide awake. Sam had worked on getting her to sleep for 45 minutes. He tried reading to her, shushing her and now was rocking her. He stood in her nursery, bouncing her up and down with a mixture of rocking her. “Come on, Victoria…please go to sleep,” he pleaded. “I’ll pay you money if you shut your eyes.”

Victoria responded with a cute hiccup that even an exhausted Sam thought was adorable.

Eileen walked into the nursery. “She’s still not asleep?”

“Nope. And I don’t know why. I’ve tried everything.”

“Is she hungry?”  
  


“I just fed her.”

Eileen stretched her arms out. “Let me try.”

Sam handed her off. He slumped in the rocking chair. Eileen rocked her. She gave her a kiss on the forehead. When she peered down, Victoria eyes were beginning to close.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” he whined. “How the hell did you do that?” he whispered.

She carefully placed her in her crib, trying her best not to wake her. “You got her mostly asleep, she just needed that extra push.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Sam turned on the baby monitor and took the monitor to their bedroom to keep an eye on her. Sam laid heavily into the bed and closed his eyes. “I am so tired. Who know having a newborn would be so exhausting?”

“I think everybody,” she laughed.

Sam turned to face his wife. She was staring at the ceiling, deep into thought. He touched her arm to get her attention. “Hey, what are you thinking about?” he asked.

“You’re going to think I’m nuts.”

“Try me,” he smiled at her.

“I’m thinking about us having another baby.”

“Like, in the traditional way or…”

“Well, I don’t think I’ll ever get pregnant, but I wouldn’t be opposed to doing what we did to have Victoria.”

Sam sighed. He went to say something but couldn’t find the words.

“But only if you’re okay with it. We don’t have to. It’s just an idea. I know that you went through a lot with the pregnancy.”

“Eileen, we went through a lot. I don’t want to jeopardize our relationship to have another baby,” he told her. Having another baby was important to him too, but not at the expense of their marriage.

“I know and it won’t. we won’t let it. We ‘re a team, right?”

Sam took her hand. “Yeah, we’re a team. I’ll summon Crowley tomorrow.”

She kissed Sam, cupping his face. “Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
